Secret Seduction

A light sheen of perspiration dewed her forehead.

He had a snapshot image of her tangled in his bedsheets, her head cradled on his pillow, hair fanned out like an inky pool as she gazed up at him with the same glistening gleam slicking her brow. He imagined her lips puckered in a playful pout, her long legs drawn up beneath her, the pink of her perky nipples peeping at him above the covers. The vision was startling, unexpected and erotic.

He shook his head, dispelling the picture. It was bad enough he was dancing with her; he wasn’t going to give in to sexual fantasies.

But it had been so long since he’d held a woman in his arms. Felt the sweet curve of soft female flesh. Smelled the scent of freshly shampooed feminine hair. Tasted lust this strong on his tongue.

And it was a damned shame because she was out of his reach even if she was nestled in the crook of his arm. He felt like a kid with his nose pressed up against the front windowpane of a locked toy store, yearning for what lay beyond, but unable to get inside.

“What’s your name?” Tanner asked, figuring that was what a regular guy would do under the circumstances. But he wasn’t a regular guy. He was her bodyguard. Even if she didn’t know it. “My name is—”

“Shh.” She pressed her index finger against her lips. “No names. Let’s not ruin the fantasy. I just want to dance.”

Good enough. The more Tanner said, the more likely he was to reveal his reason for being there.

He spun her across the dance floor, carrying her away on the moment, the music. They moved as one unit. Gliding and swaying. Sliding and twirling.

This whole thing was strange, surreal, seductive.

Tanner understood that he was making a big mistake, that by just dancing with her something inside of him was changing, but he couldn’t think of a graceful way to bow out. Didn’t know how to stop.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and his heart jumped.

He made a strangled noise, half groan, half sigh.

She tilted her chin, angling her head to give him a sideways glance. The movement, languid and curious, was identical to the way Maria used to look at him when she was in a romantic mood.

Tanner’s gut twisted and he suppressed a panicky urge to turn and flee.

A strand of midnight-black hair fell across her face and she tucked it behind her ear, studded with a ruby earring that matched the color of her dress. She smelled like sophistication from the way she held herself to her perfectly manicured nails to her cologne that smelled of forbidden secrets and starlit tropical nights.

The deal was he knew she was a fake. Knew the sophistication was all an act, something she’d developed rather than been born with. He admired her ability to pull it off with such smooth cool.

The song the band was playing was so slow in tempo that he and Vanessa were barely moving. He tightened his hand around her waist, breathed in the scent of her. All he could hear was the sound of his blood rushing pell-mell through his ears.

He peered into her eyes and caught a glimpse of it. The raw fear. The utter vulnerability. The real reason she was here.

In that instant the sophistication was completely gone. It didn’t matter than she had a Mensa IQ or that she had learned to navigate the world of the rich and powerful successfully. She was still that scared kid who’d been forever marked by a very rocky early life.

That naked, vulnerable expression told him she was trying to blot out the awful news she must have gotten today. The same news that had spurred Tanner’s employer to hire him, the news that must have rattled her secure little world.

Carlo Vega, the man who’d vowed to get even with Vanessa Rodriquez for testifying against him fourteen years earlier, had been paroled from prison.

The woman was hurting.

And was using Tanner to blunt her pain.

He understood. His protective instincts kicked into overdrive. He wanted to tell her everything would be all right. That she wasn’t alone. That he was here now and no one would ever hurt her again.

But, of course, he couldn’t say that. The man who had hired Tanner had been adamant. Vanessa could not know she was being guarded.

He gazed at her, trying to tell her with his eyes what he could not say with his mouth. I’m here for you. I’ll keep you safe.

What she read in his face must have scared her even more than Carlo Vega’s release. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open and for one brief second she looked absolutely terrified.

Then just as quickly as she had let it fall down, she zipped her guard back up, locking herself inside her tower, hiding her emotions beneath those dark eyelashes. He wondered what it would take to scale that fortress.

“I’m thirsty,” she said matter-of-factly, pulling out of his arms and stepping away from him so quickly she almost collided with another couple. He took her elbow and guided her off the dance floor, but the way her muscles tensed beneath his fingers, he could tell she didn’t appreciate his proprietary touch.

“What would you like to drink?” he asked, dropping his hand.

Her gaze darted toward the bar. “I have a drink.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

“No, no,” she said. “I can get it myself.”

Tanner’s eyes met hers again. “Am I being dismissed? Did I do something wrong?”

“Nothing. It was a nice dance. Thank you.” She smiled with her mouth but not with her eyes.

“I am being dismissed.”

She laughed a sound of nervousness, not humor. “I’m just tired of dancing.”

“Is there something else you’d like to do instead?” He didn’t mean to sound suggestive, but he heard the innuendo in his voice and instantly cringed. “I mean,” he hurried to amend, “like play pool? Or shuffleboard? Darts, maybe?”

“I think it’s time I called it a night,” she said, walking away from him, heading toward the bar.

“Do you think that’s wise?” he asked.

Vanessa halted, looked back over her shoulder at him. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’ve had two shots of tequila in under two hours.”

Suspicion descended over her face like a heavy curtain. “You were watching me?”

“The entire bar was watching you,” he said. It was true enough. “You shouldn’t be driving. Maybe we could go to the hotel down the street, next block over, and grab a late dinner in their restaurant. They stay open until eleven on weekends.”

“I don’t drink and drive,” she said. “I took a taxi. When I plan to drink, I think ahead.”

He knew that. He’d followed her here from her condo, but he couldn’t show that he knew it.

“But,” she said, “I am hungry.” Then she raked a glance over him like a very naughty girl and licked her lips. “So I accept your offer of dinner.”

Whoa, Tanner thought as he stared into her dark, enigmatic eyes.

How had he ended up here? Nothing about this evening had gone according to plan. He was getting in over his head and he realized too late that he’d forgotten how to swim.

Chapter 2

“I’M IN THE MOOD FOR STEAK,” Vanessa told her dinner companion as they sat in the hotel dining room. At this late hour there was only a handful of other diners in the place. “I don’t normally eat red meat, but tonight I’m feeling—”

“Like you need to bolster your courage?” he finished.

That wasn’t what she was going to say at all, but it was the truth. Taken aback, Vanessa stared at him.

The man’s unsettling blue eyes held her own over the flickering candles in the middle of the white linen tablecloth. She had an urge to put up her dukes in a boxing stance.

“Why did you say that?” she asked.

“Going to a nightclub you don’t often frequent, dancing with a stranger, then joining him for dinner. Now ordering steak. Do you want to talk about it?”

Irritation sideswiped her like transfer paint in a fender bender. Vanessa swallowed, arranged her face into a smile. Was she that transparent or was he that perceptive? “I changed my mind. I do want to know your name. But only your first name.”

“Why’s that?”

“Last names complicate things.”

“Tanner,” he said. “How ’bout you?”

She extended her hand across the table. “Vanessa.”

He shook her hand. His palm was warm in hers, calloused. These were not the pampered hands of a surgeon, the type of men she usually dated. These hands knew manual labor.

The waitress appeared at their table with two glasses of water.

“Two tenderloin steaks.” Tanner looked at Vanessa, “Medium?”

“Medium rare,” she supplied to be perverse. She did prefer her steaks cooked medium, but she didn’t like him guessing that about her.

“Two coffees, steaks medium rare and the sautéed vegetables,” he told the waitress and handed her their menus.

She frowned, not knowing why she was feeling so argumentative and yet so interested.

“Why are you trying so hard to look so tough?” he asked.

“Who says I’m not tough?” She hardened her jaw, sat up straighter in the seat and gave him her best barrio-girl expression.

“That cross-me-and-you-die look in your eyes.”

“You don’t think I’m serious?”

He shook his head. “Oh, you’re tough on the outside, but inside—” he thumped his right fist over his heart “—you feel deep.”

A sense of vulnerability wrapped her in a sweaty hug. She made a derisive noise even though she would like very much to feel him inside her. “Is this your best pickup line?”

The notion was unexpected but intriguing. One night in bed with this tall drink of water might just be the antidote she needed to quell thoughts of Carlo Vega. She found Tanner far more appealing than she should. Everything about him was sexy, even the proprietary way he’d ordered for her.

“You picked me up, remember?”

She had indeed. “And now you think you know everything about me.”

“Not everything.” He took a sip of water. “But I’d like to know more.”

Yeah, she’d like to know more about him, too. But why? She wasn’t in the market for a serious relationship, or any relationship for that matter. She still had a year to go on her residency and it required all her dedication and concentration. But one glorious night with the studly Viking here? Oh, yeah.

The waitress, clad in a simple uniform of black slacks and a white silk blouse, brought their order, rescuing Vanessa from having to answer the question in his piercing blue eyes. She couldn’t help wondering what he would think if he knew the truth about her. Where she was from. The things she’d done to survive and make her way in the world. And that nothing mattered more to her than her career.

“Did you used to be a Boy Scout?” she asked to derail him.

He stopped buttering his roll and looked at her. “What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “You just look like a Boy Scout. Blond. Clean-cut. Perfect posture.”

“Yes,” he said. “I was a Boy Scout. Even earned a good conduct medal.” His grin was self-deprecating. “Were you ever a Girl Scout?”

In the barrio?

“So what do you do for fun?” he asked, cutting into his steak. “When you’re not dancing at Emilio’s?”

“I don’t have much free time. The closest I come to a hobby is my daily jog.” Vanessa cut into her own steak. “And once in a rare while I get to indulge my passion for old movies.”

“Ah,” he said. “A workaholic.”

She eyed his biceps straining against the sleeves of his shirt. She wished she had X-ray vision so she could see the delineation of each strata of those muscles. “I can see you’re not a slacker in the exercise department. What do you do to keep your guns in shape?”

He smiled and flexed his upper arms. The man had every reason in the world to be proud of his spectacular physique. “Power lifting. But for fun, I kayak the Colorado. You ever been?”

“No,” she admitted. Not much opportunity for kayaking where she came from. “But it sounds like fun.”

“Maybe I’ll take you sometime.”

Hope coiled tight inside her. Sometime. Ha! There’d be no other time with him. Now was all she could afford and even this was risky. She ducked her head, busied herself with spearing a bit of juicy tenderloin. “So you’re a Texan?”

“Born and raised,” he said.

“Where’s your hometown?”

“Right here in Austin. You?”

“El Paso.”

“What brought you to Austin? Boyfriend? Husband?”

“Is this your way of asking if I’m attached?”

His eyes darkened. “Hey, no guy likes ugly surprises when he’s out with a pretty woman.”

The comment made her smile. “I’m single,” she said. “Never married.”

“I’m single, as well.” Tanner nodded, but he had a strange look on his face, almost as if he were lying. “So you’re in Austin because…”

Here he was asking the question she dreaded most. Vanessa gave him the pat answer that was only partly the truth. “Med school.”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she could have bitten off her tongue. She hadn’t wanted him to know she was a doctor. A lot of guys got weird when they found out what she did for a living. Many of them felt challenged by a smart, successful woman.

“You’re a doctor?” He sounded impressed.

“Resident.”

“I see why you don’t have much time for fun.”

“Work does take up most of my time.”

“So what is your favorite classic movie, when you have time to indulge your passion?” he asked.

“Dark Victory,” she said without hesitation.

“You go for the tearjerkers.”

“Tearjerkers are more like real life.”

“Which is exactly why some people like to escape into comedies.”

“Let me guess, you’re a Three Stooges fan,” she said. “Or maybe the Marx Brothers?”

“Actually, “ he admitted, “when it comes to classic movies, it’s John Wayne all the way.”

“I should have guessed.” She smiled. “What’s your fav? Rio Bravo?”

“McLintock!”

“Seriously?”

“I’m a sucker for romance. Plus Maureen O’Hara was pretty easy on the eyes. I have a thing for feisty women.” He winked.

Suddenly she had a hard time catching her breath.

The conversation lagged and Vanessa didn’t try to stir it. Strangely enough, the silence between them didn’t feel awkward at all. It felt nice. Natural.

They finished their meal and lingered over a cup of coffee.

“What’s your specialty?” Tanner asked.

“Specialty?” She was so busy staring at his impressively broad shoulders, his question caught her off guard and for a minute there she thought he was asking her a very personal question.

“Pediatrics, internal medicine, heart surgeon?”

“Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.”

“Really?” His tone sounded almost accusatory.

She bristled. “Something wrong with plastic surgery?”

“Settle down,” he said. “The question wasn’t a shot against your chosen career. You just seem like you’d be a pediatrician.”

“Why? Because I’m a woman? You just assume I’d be good with kids?” She knew she sounded defensive. She didn’t even know why she was reacting this way.

Tanner held up his palms. “I surrender. I can see I’m snugged up behind the eight ball on this one.”

He looked so contrite, Vanessa laughed. “Well, thanks for having dinner with me, Tanner,” she said, opening her wallet to pull out enough cash to cover the cost of her meal.

His hand closed over hers. “Dinner is on me.”

“No,” she said and lifted her chin proudly. “I always pay my own way.”

He didn’t argue, just let go of her hand. Vanessa suddenly realized she was breathless. “All right,” he said. “If you insist. But then at least let me give you a ride home.”

“I’ll catch a cab.”

“Beholden to no one,” he said lightly.

“That’s right.”

He studied her for a long moment. “Doesn’t it ever get exhausting?”

“What?”

“Never letting anyone help you. Always going it alone.”

“I’ve been beholden to people before,” she said. “There are always strings attached. I prefer life without any ties that bind.”

“So you don’t have any family.”

“No.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely?

Yes.

The man was too perceptive. It unnerved her that he could assess her so easily, how much he seemed to understand.

Vanessa swung her purse strap up on her shoulder and pushed back her chair. “Nice dance, nice meal, have a nice life, Tanner.”

She got to her feet, her movements tense and jerky. She felt so many conflicting things at once—nervousness, disappointment, sexual frustration—and he was the cause of it all.

Not really. Carlo Vega has a lot to do with you ending up here.

“What’s your hurry, Vanessa?”

She wished she’d given him a fake name. The sound of her name on his tongue, spoken in that deep, arresting voice, did funny things to her insides. “It’s late,” she said. “I gotta go.”

Without a backward glance, she hurried from the hotel restaurant, pushing through the revolving glass door and ending up on the vacant street.

The wind had kicked up while they’d been inside, tossing litter and leaves along the sidewalk. Lightning lit the sky in the distance. Thunder rumbled. An unseasonable rainstorm on the way.

Goose bumps raised on her arms. Who would have thought she’d need long sleeves in August in Austin?

She walked to the front of the hotel entrance, but there were no cabs at the cab stand. She stood underneath the streetlamp, glancing up and down the block. No taxi in sight, but surely one would be along in a minute. No sign of the valet, either. She paced to the end of the block, feeling like a target in her red dress and high heels. Maybe she should wait in the hotel lobby.

And risk running into Tanner again? No thank you. She had the feeling if she saw him again she’d throw all caution to the wind and ask him to take her home with him.

Where was a taxi?

“Come on, come on,” she muttered and glanced at her watch. She remembered other late nights, other lonely streets and her gut squeezed.

Footsteps sounded behind her and her heart froze. She fumbled for the mace in her purse and found it.

With the mace in her palm, finger on the nozzle, she whirled around, growling, “Back off!”

Tanner raised both arms. “Don’t shoot.”

“Oh,” she said and let out a breath. “It’s you.”

“Storm got you spooked?”

“A little,” she said, dropping the mace back inside her handbag. She hated to admit it, but she was relieved to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you stand out here alone? Are you sure I can’t give you a lift home?”

In the time it took her to draw in a deep breath, she considered his offer, but she was intensely private and didn’t like strangers knowing where she lived.

No, but you’ll dance with a stranger and have dinner with him.

That wasn’t normally true, which was what was so unsettling about this man. He made her want to do lots of things she normally wouldn’t do.

Lightning flashed again, moving closer, rapidly followed by more grumbling thunder. Fat raindrops spattered the cement around them.

“Let’s go back in out of the rain,” he said, and inclined his head toward the hotel.

The combination of his hard body, his delicious masculine smell and the quickening raindrops were too compelling to deny. She nodded. They pushed through the double doors together and ended up inside.

Vanessa couldn’t deny she was attracted to the man. She loved that he was taller than she. At five eleven, it was often a challenge to find a man whose height surpassed her own. Even with the two-inch stilettos she wore, he was still taller. He made her feel petite, which was an alien feeling. She wanted him and that was damned dangerous considering how emotionally vulnerable she was right now.

He said nothing. Just stood waiting beside her. A powerful, comforting presence. He felt like a bodyguard. Strong, silent, but muscles coiled, ready for action. They stared out the window, watching the rain coming down. She was so aware of him, her skin prickled.

“Really,” she said. “You don’t have to wait with me.”

“I don’t mind.”

The earnestness in his eyes unnerved her. Why did he have to be so nice? She wasn’t accustomed to the men she met in bars being so chivalrous. Neither was she accustomed to the rampant fantasies circling in her head. She kept imagining him hot and hard and naked.

Oh, God, it had been far too long since she’d gotten laid. She was a hormonal disaster. All it would take was one kiss from those rugged lips of his and she’d melt like candle wax. And judging from the look he was giving her, he knew it.

“You want to go back to Emilio’s?” she found herself asking. “I could use another drink.”

“A drink isn’t what you need,” he said.

She dared to look him in the face. There was no mistaking the glimmer in his eyes. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

The air around them snapped with sexual energy. His gaze hung on her mouth and he angled his head lower.

Was he going to kiss her? Right here in the lobby with the desk clerks watching them from the registration counter?

She could see the invitation in his eyes, but he wasn’t crossing any boundaries. She flicked a tongue out to lick her lips, egging him toward that kiss.

“There’s a taxi.” He nodded toward the street.

“Is there?”

“Which is a damned good thing, but I was just about to ask you to stay.”

“Were you?”

Vanessa knew a crossroad when she saw one. Take the well-traveled fork and you knew you could stay safe. Take the fork that disappeared into the undergrowth, and while there might be adventure, you were also taking a big gamble.

It was stupid. She knew it as she was doing it, but all she could think of at the moment was how his eyes promised the pleasure of great sex. Sex that would help her forget all about the lousy day she’d had.

She wrapped a hand around his forearm. “So ask.”

He blew out his breath and pulled from her grasp, but he took hold of her chin and tipped her face up to his.

Outside the thunder boomed.

Vanessa’s heart galloped.

Tanner brushed his lips over hers. Not so much a kiss as the inherent promise of one.

All the air left her body.

Then he dipped his head lower and lightly pressed his mouth to the pulse beating in her throat. Heat shot through her body, pooling low in her abdomen. The first pinch of pure passion fisted inside her.

“Tanner.” Her voice came out in a choked whisper.

His lips were back on hers in a feather-soft kiss, and Vanessa simply had to have more. Against all common sense, she curved her body against his and opened her mouth. He inhaled sharply and slipped his tongue between her teeth. She came undone.

Languid heat curled through her body. Was it so wrong to sate the yearning sexual needs she’d been holding at bay for such a long time? Would it be so terrible to have a one-night stand with this man? They were both mature, consenting adults. They were both unattached and attracted to each other. What could possibly be the harm in letting nature take its course?

He deepened the kiss, breaking the last tenuous thread of restraint she’d managed to hang on to until this moment. Why not? As long as she kept her heart out of the fray, as long as she accepted this for what it was—a one-night fling—everything would be all right.

No expectations, no regrets, just mutual pleasure giving and receiving. She was a physician. Vanessa was aware of how important a healthy sex life was to mind, body and spirit.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. The question was there. He was waiting for her to answer it.

“Tanner.” She breathed. “Get us a room.”

He studied her face, his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret. Are you certain this is what you want?”